This is the 100th entry on this blog since I moved to Warsaw about 3 years ago, which means I've had a lot of stories and experiences to share. Whether you've read only 1 post, or all 100, 10 times each, I am happy to have you here. I don't take any of that for granted, as every trip, race, and cultural experience has made my time here something pretty wonderful, and I love sharing it with you.
The bike trip I want to tell you about is no exception. Thanks for visiting!
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July 11-13, 2013
When Mark told me about his plans to do a 200+ km bike trip from Warsaw (over a couple days), I assumed he had others going with him. Or at least his girlfriend. When he told me he was going by himself, I immediately imposed myself on him, even if he didn't want me to, and even if it would make his girlfriend jealous. It was for his own good anyway, as I didn't want him to bike alone on the road with all those crazy Polish drivers, or have to drink vodka alone in the hotel bars every night. I'm so thoughtful that way. But really it was more for me, so I could explore more of Poland with someone who knew where he was going, and so I could get in a bit of bike training before another triathlon.
The idea was to ride north through Ciechanów, a town most known these days for its castle and brewery, then head East towards Maków Mazowiecki, near where Mark used to visit his family as a child. Mark is from Australia but has Polish roots, and spent time at the family's house in the Polish countryside. He goes on a bike trip every year, and since he hadn't visited this place since he moved to Poland, he figured it was time. I was happy to tag along.
We headed off around mid-day hoping to arrive by dinner. Our friends Tyler and Carolyn recently published a cycling guide around Warsaw (ibikeWawa - which you can download now for the very low price of 9 Euros!!), with very in-depth descriptions, directions, pictures and information about various bike paths they've taken around the city. They have a route to Ciechanów so Mark printed the route and away we went.
One of the discussions we had prior to leaving was if we wanted to carry tents and sleeping bags with us, or if we'd stay in hotels along the way. We decided that the small hotels (i.e. Bed & Breakfasts) would be easiest, so we didn't have to carry extra gear. I also don't have any saddle bags for my bike, so everything I needed had to fit in a backpack. And I definitely wanted to limit my mosquito exposure, so sleeping indoors sounded better to me. This has been on the of worst years for me regarding mosquitoes (mozzies, as Mark says). I can't remember a time when I didn't have multiple bites on my legs and neck. In fact, I sometimes avoid outdoor social events, because I don't want to get malaria (or spend my entire life scratching myself...I'm not a dog).
Following Tyler's route was pretty pleasant, apart for a few dirt paths and bumpy gravel. It took us through various towns, some roads that seemed to go in circles, crossing railroad tracks, and through scenic farm lands. After a bit of "what the heck was Tyler thinking when he said we should go this way???", we realized that it was indeed the best route to take and their directions were spot on (good job guys!). Because we couldn't go too fast on the bumpy roads, had to stop and check directions periodically, and because we are old and our legs get tired, it took about 6 hours to get to Ciechanów (nearly 90 km). We passed cows, miniature donkeys, dogs, storks, and old men sitting on the side of the road staring at us. The weather was perfect for a bike ride - not too hot, overcast to protect us from the sun, but no rain, even though it was in the forecast.
In Ciechanów we checked into Baron Hotel, just next to the main square. Within 5 minutes of checking in, we were sitting in a beer garden next to the brewery with a Ciechan beer in our hands. My favorite honey flavored beer comes from Ciechanów (Ciechan Miodowe). But here, they offered all kinds of beers, many of which I hadn't seen in Warsaw. Of course I tried a new one, so I could tell everyone about the different beer I had at the Ciechan brewery. And it was pretty good. Except I don't remember what it was. So next time I will probably just order honey beer again. Basically I failed.
We took a walk around the castle, noticing several groups of locals hanging out in the field next to it, sitting on bales of hay, drinking Ciechan beer. It must be what people have been doing in this town for the past 1,000 years. If you weren't lucky enough to live in the castle, you sat outside, getting drunk, waiting for something fun to happen.
The great thing about Ciechanów is that there are three kebab restaurants in the main square. So, that's what we ate for dinner. After biking for 6 hours, drinking a couple beers, and smelling the good ol' brewery smell (I really like it), I could have eaten anything. We went for the extra large combo plates rather than just a kebab. Even though the lights in the restaurant kept going out, the food was actually pretty good. Until I found a small worm (maggot, I guess) slithering around between the cabbage leaves. Normally I would have been grossed out, because maggots are generally not my friend, but I was so hungry I just ate around it. Mark was nice and complained politely to the staff there, and they actually gave me my money back (biggest shock of the century). I was sure to eat all of the meat and fries before they took the plate.
Before taking off the next day we did a quick tour of the Ciechan castle. The castle itself is in the middle of a field with nothing really around it. It didn't make sense why the castle would have been built there, until we saw pictures of the early days, when there was a moat and natural protection. There actually wasn't much inside, apart from a visitors center, with a few exhibits of swords and artifacts going back 700 years, and the towers, which you can go in. The center of the castle itself was just an open space. We went at 10 am, but the towers didn't open until 11. Since the towers seemed to be the main attraction, we decided to wait. We tried to sneak up the staircase on our own, but got yelled at by one of the workers. It was Polish worker efficiency at its best. The guy came over to yell at us not to go upstairs, because there was nobody around to watch us to make sure we didn't touch anything. Then he went back to what he was doing before - standing around with 5 other guys, watching one guy attach a hose to a faucet. For 20 minutes. Mark and I competed to make the most sarcastic comments under our breath as we stood there watching. We enjoyed re-enacting the conversation we thought they were having. The funny thing is that there was nothing in the towers that we could have damaged or touched, so they didn't really need to have someone watch us. And they locked me in the tower after the guides took everyone around, so they weren't watching us very closely anyway. Mark had to tell them I was still up there so I could get out!
After stocking up on pączki, bananas and Powerade, we headed towards our next stop - Maków Mazowiecki. My legs were a bit wobbly, as the 90 km from the previous day was probably the most I've ever biked in a single day. Luckily day 2 would be less than 65 km, so it was a "short" one. It was tough riding on the road on a mountain bike, just because it goes slower than a road bike or a hybrid. But the hardest was carrying 20 pounds of stuff in my backpack. So my back and butt hurt more than my legs. I had to ride standing up for a few kilometers at a time, to keep my back upright and my butt off the seat.
Because we weren't in a big hurry to get to Maków, we had some time to explore. We found a little castle and park in Opinogóra, which had a place called a Romantic Museum or something like that. Mark and I didn't go into the Romantic Museum together, but at least the park was nice to stop in and ride around. This is one of the great parts of bike trips - the random exploration you can do in places you'd never usually stop or see when traveling by train or car. You also don't appreciate the smells and the sounds when in a car, but on a bike, we could smell the grass and flowers, and could actually hear the silence, when there were no cars within miles of us. There were cows, chickens, wheat, corn and fields of hay everywhere. I got lost in day dreaming many times (luckily Mark doesn't say too many interesting things, so I could ignore him most of the time).
On the second night, we stayed at Gospoda Pazibroda, a couple kilometers away from Maków. It was a really nice little bed and breakfast, in a beautiful setting, with a great restaurant, and less than $30 for a single room. I had an amazing steak and potatoes dinner with delicious mushroom soup. After two long days, Mark and I were exhausted, so after a post-dinner walk, we both went to bed. We stayed in separate rooms this time, because that's what they had available, but also it was so cheap, it didn't matter (and you know, after the Romantic Museum, it was a bit awkward). But really, sometimes it's nice to sleep in a room alone. At least I thought I was alone.... Before I went to bed, I noticed a mosquito in the room. I checked the window and it was closed, but somehow the little guy got in. So I chased him around a bit before finally smashing it with a piece of paper. I had survived most of the trip so far without getting bit, so I had to get him before falling asleep, otherwise he'd devour me.
I was sleeping peacefully until the sound of helicopters overhead woke me up at 4am. Wait a minute, that wasn't a helicopter, that was a mosquito flying around my face. I jumped out of bed, quickly turned on the light and put my glasses on. I had to hunt him before he bit me. I sat perfectly still, waiting to hear the buzz again (I put my body under the blanket so he couldn't secretly bite me). I finally saw him approach me, and in one deft stroke, clapped my hands at the air where he flew. I opened my hands to see if he was there. Got him. Now exhale. I got back up to turn off the light, smiling at my success. Then a sharp chill ran down my spine and my smile turned into fear. Looking up at the ceiling, I saw something out of a horror movie. It was my worst nightmare. The ceiling was covered with mosquitoes (ok there were only 4, but it seemed like a million). W.T.F.??? I looked around the room for something I could defend myself with. There were no magazines to slap them with, and I could only wish for one of the big bug smasher guns my Aunty Lilly used to have when I was a kid (it was a spring-loaded gun with a flat, soft plastic end that would smash bugs against the wall when you fired it...but we would shoot it at each other, rather than at bugs, because it was more fun that way). The ceiling was too high for me to smash them with my hand, so I grabbed the only thing that I could throw at them. My pillow. Which was white. As was the ceiling.
I didn't have time to consider the consequences, as I rapidly launched the pillow towards the ceiling (think Angry Birds) and hit one of them. It left a nice black smear on the ceiling. I momentarily did a little cheer in my head. Then the rest of them scattered and were flying all over the room. Crap. I sat down on the bed staring at the ceiling, waiting for one to land again. When it did, I launched the pillow again. This time, the smudge on the pillow was blood red. Yup, my blood. Blood smeared on the ceiling and pillow was gross, but I didn't worry about it...I had a war to win. After killing the other 3, I thought it was over. I checked the window again to make sure it was closed...how else were these guys coming in? It was definitely closed, but upon further inspection, there were 4 or 5 more mosquitoes sitting on the window...on the INSIDE! I swung wildly at them, getting one, but the others scattered. So I went back to the bed, to stare at the ceiling again, waiting to see them land. I was chasing them around the room for the next hour, barely breathing as I tried to listen for the buzz and to wait for them to reveal themselves. My heart was seriously beating fast during this battle, as if I was in some scene from Lord of the Flies. In total, I killed 12 mosquitoes between 4 and 5:30 am. TWELVE. After which I was so jittery and shell-shocked that it took a while to fall asleep again.
When I woke up, I looked around the room, which looked like the aftermath of a zombie war. There were black marks all over the walls and ceiling, mosquito corpses scattered around the room, body parts everywhere, and the pillow case was pretty disgusting (luckily I had two pillows). I feel sorry for the guy who had to clean my room. Mark was happy to not have been there.
And my legs, arms and neck were all itching again. Dammit.
When I said that Mark doesn't say interesting things, of course that was a lie. Mark's family has a very interesting story. As a kid (a LOOOOOOOOONG time ago), he visited Poland many times. We found the house/land where the family used to vacation, but it has become infested by the overgrowth of bushes and trees. After the house burned down several years ago, nobody took care to upkeep it. So, the family stopped visiting. Mark told stories of playing in the fields, visiting the town, flirting with all the Polish girls, and we even went the corner candy shop he used to frequent. I found it interesting that the teenage girl working at the shop had Mark's same eyes........ I wonder if that's just a coincidence..........hmmmmmmmm........?????? We also visited the cemetery where most of his ancestors are buried. It took a while to walk around to find it, but since he remembered the tomb being under a tree, that helped narrow down the search (we looked around all the tress). All the graves were huge and had multiple people living there (I realize that's the wrong word to use, but that's how I want to describe it). Even though his dad survived the war and is buried in Australia, Mark also told about his dad being imprisoned in Auschwitz for being part of the national army (I told you Mark was a kid a LOOOOOOOOONG time ago). His dad didn't really talk about it, as I can imagine it would have been difficult.
Mark himself is a bit of an inspirational story. He's a lawyer by trade (ok, not that inspirational), but after many years living the corporate life (he was even a PwC partner for some time), living in various cities around the world, he decided to take a break from that, moved to Poland to get in touch with his roots, and has been teaching English in Warsaw for a couple years. It's nice to see someone not get too engulfed in the corporate world, realizing that there are other things in life to enjoy. And to actually do something about it.
On the way back to Warsaw we passed through a couple nice places - Pułtusk, a little town on the river with a nice castle and really long market square (supposedly it's the longest market square in Europe), and Serock, just along a huge lake with nice paths around and lots of people doing water sports. We ran out of bike friendly roads in some parts, so we had to go on the main roads with cars and trucks zooming by. It was great for training because we were going really fast to get off the road as quickly as possible.
After riding about 230 km over the 3 days, it felt great to get back to Warsaw. Our daily mileage (or kilometerage) was 88, 60, and 85 km. It was great to see Warsaw's surroundings that I hadn't seen before and to take it in more naturally, rather than in a car or train. It was also great to see a bit of Mark's childhood and heritage, and I'm glad he let me join him. It was another successful and very enjoyable trip.
After I wrote this, a friend of mine in the US had just finished a 5,000 km bike ride across the US in 2.5 months. 5 THOUSAND. I didn't even do 500. I didn't even do HALF of 500. So his was almost the same thing as my trip. Or not. Check out his feat here.
The bike trip I want to tell you about is no exception. Thanks for visiting!
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July 11-13, 2013
When Mark told me about his plans to do a 200+ km bike trip from Warsaw (over a couple days), I assumed he had others going with him. Or at least his girlfriend. When he told me he was going by himself, I immediately imposed myself on him, even if he didn't want me to, and even if it would make his girlfriend jealous. It was for his own good anyway, as I didn't want him to bike alone on the road with all those crazy Polish drivers, or have to drink vodka alone in the hotel bars every night. I'm so thoughtful that way. But really it was more for me, so I could explore more of Poland with someone who knew where he was going, and so I could get in a bit of bike training before another triathlon.
The idea was to ride north through Ciechanów, a town most known these days for its castle and brewery, then head East towards Maków Mazowiecki, near where Mark used to visit his family as a child. Mark is from Australia but has Polish roots, and spent time at the family's house in the Polish countryside. He goes on a bike trip every year, and since he hadn't visited this place since he moved to Poland, he figured it was time. I was happy to tag along.
We headed off around mid-day hoping to arrive by dinner. Our friends Tyler and Carolyn recently published a cycling guide around Warsaw (ibikeWawa - which you can download now for the very low price of 9 Euros!!), with very in-depth descriptions, directions, pictures and information about various bike paths they've taken around the city. They have a route to Ciechanów so Mark printed the route and away we went.
Mark gets style points for his reflective shirt
One of the discussions we had prior to leaving was if we wanted to carry tents and sleeping bags with us, or if we'd stay in hotels along the way. We decided that the small hotels (i.e. Bed & Breakfasts) would be easiest, so we didn't have to carry extra gear. I also don't have any saddle bags for my bike, so everything I needed had to fit in a backpack. And I definitely wanted to limit my mosquito exposure, so sleeping indoors sounded better to me. This has been on the of worst years for me regarding mosquitoes (mozzies, as Mark says). I can't remember a time when I didn't have multiple bites on my legs and neck. In fact, I sometimes avoid outdoor social events, because I don't want to get malaria (or spend my entire life scratching myself...I'm not a dog).
Following Tyler's route was pretty pleasant, apart for a few dirt paths and bumpy gravel. It took us through various towns, some roads that seemed to go in circles, crossing railroad tracks, and through scenic farm lands. After a bit of "what the heck was Tyler thinking when he said we should go this way???", we realized that it was indeed the best route to take and their directions were spot on (good job guys!). Because we couldn't go too fast on the bumpy roads, had to stop and check directions periodically, and because we are old and our legs get tired, it took about 6 hours to get to Ciechanów (nearly 90 km). We passed cows, miniature donkeys, dogs, storks, and old men sitting on the side of the road staring at us. The weather was perfect for a bike ride - not too hot, overcast to protect us from the sun, but no rain, even though it was in the forecast.
I don't know what these are, but they're funny and I want one
Stork nests everywhere
In Ciechanów we checked into Baron Hotel, just next to the main square. Within 5 minutes of checking in, we were sitting in a beer garden next to the brewery with a Ciechan beer in our hands. My favorite honey flavored beer comes from Ciechanów (Ciechan Miodowe). But here, they offered all kinds of beers, many of which I hadn't seen in Warsaw. Of course I tried a new one, so I could tell everyone about the different beer I had at the Ciechan brewery. And it was pretty good. Except I don't remember what it was. So next time I will probably just order honey beer again. Basically I failed.
I'll just order this one next time
We took a walk around the castle, noticing several groups of locals hanging out in the field next to it, sitting on bales of hay, drinking Ciechan beer. It must be what people have been doing in this town for the past 1,000 years. If you weren't lucky enough to live in the castle, you sat outside, getting drunk, waiting for something fun to happen.
The same picture as on the beer bottle!
The great thing about Ciechanów is that there are three kebab restaurants in the main square. So, that's what we ate for dinner. After biking for 6 hours, drinking a couple beers, and smelling the good ol' brewery smell (I really like it), I could have eaten anything. We went for the extra large combo plates rather than just a kebab. Even though the lights in the restaurant kept going out, the food was actually pretty good. Until I found a small worm (maggot, I guess) slithering around between the cabbage leaves. Normally I would have been grossed out, because maggots are generally not my friend, but I was so hungry I just ate around it. Mark was nice and complained politely to the staff there, and they actually gave me my money back (biggest shock of the century). I was sure to eat all of the meat and fries before they took the plate.
Try to find the worm
Before taking off the next day we did a quick tour of the Ciechan castle. The castle itself is in the middle of a field with nothing really around it. It didn't make sense why the castle would have been built there, until we saw pictures of the early days, when there was a moat and natural protection. There actually wasn't much inside, apart from a visitors center, with a few exhibits of swords and artifacts going back 700 years, and the towers, which you can go in. The center of the castle itself was just an open space. We went at 10 am, but the towers didn't open until 11. Since the towers seemed to be the main attraction, we decided to wait. We tried to sneak up the staircase on our own, but got yelled at by one of the workers. It was Polish worker efficiency at its best. The guy came over to yell at us not to go upstairs, because there was nobody around to watch us to make sure we didn't touch anything. Then he went back to what he was doing before - standing around with 5 other guys, watching one guy attach a hose to a faucet. For 20 minutes. Mark and I competed to make the most sarcastic comments under our breath as we stood there watching. We enjoyed re-enacting the conversation we thought they were having. The funny thing is that there was nothing in the towers that we could have damaged or touched, so they didn't really need to have someone watch us. And they locked me in the tower after the guides took everyone around, so they weren't watching us very closely anyway. Mark had to tell them I was still up there so I could get out!
It takes 6 people to spray water on dirt
I was trapped in the tower!
It looks better from outside the castle walls
After stocking up on pączki, bananas and Powerade, we headed towards our next stop - Maków Mazowiecki. My legs were a bit wobbly, as the 90 km from the previous day was probably the most I've ever biked in a single day. Luckily day 2 would be less than 65 km, so it was a "short" one. It was tough riding on the road on a mountain bike, just because it goes slower than a road bike or a hybrid. But the hardest was carrying 20 pounds of stuff in my backpack. So my back and butt hurt more than my legs. I had to ride standing up for a few kilometers at a time, to keep my back upright and my butt off the seat.
Because we weren't in a big hurry to get to Maków, we had some time to explore. We found a little castle and park in Opinogóra, which had a place called a Romantic Museum or something like that. Mark and I didn't go into the Romantic Museum together, but at least the park was nice to stop in and ride around. This is one of the great parts of bike trips - the random exploration you can do in places you'd never usually stop or see when traveling by train or car. You also don't appreciate the smells and the sounds when in a car, but on a bike, we could smell the grass and flowers, and could actually hear the silence, when there were no cars within miles of us. There were cows, chickens, wheat, corn and fields of hay everywhere. I got lost in day dreaming many times (luckily Mark doesn't say too many interesting things, so I could ignore him most of the time).
Romantic museum (or something like that)
On the second night, we stayed at Gospoda Pazibroda, a couple kilometers away from Maków. It was a really nice little bed and breakfast, in a beautiful setting, with a great restaurant, and less than $30 for a single room. I had an amazing steak and potatoes dinner with delicious mushroom soup. After two long days, Mark and I were exhausted, so after a post-dinner walk, we both went to bed. We stayed in separate rooms this time, because that's what they had available, but also it was so cheap, it didn't matter (and you know, after the Romantic Museum, it was a bit awkward). But really, sometimes it's nice to sleep in a room alone. At least I thought I was alone.... Before I went to bed, I noticed a mosquito in the room. I checked the window and it was closed, but somehow the little guy got in. So I chased him around a bit before finally smashing it with a piece of paper. I had survived most of the trip so far without getting bit, so I had to get him before falling asleep, otherwise he'd devour me.
I ate a great meal, before I became a great meal
I was sleeping peacefully until the sound of helicopters overhead woke me up at 4am. Wait a minute, that wasn't a helicopter, that was a mosquito flying around my face. I jumped out of bed, quickly turned on the light and put my glasses on. I had to hunt him before he bit me. I sat perfectly still, waiting to hear the buzz again (I put my body under the blanket so he couldn't secretly bite me). I finally saw him approach me, and in one deft stroke, clapped my hands at the air where he flew. I opened my hands to see if he was there. Got him. Now exhale. I got back up to turn off the light, smiling at my success. Then a sharp chill ran down my spine and my smile turned into fear. Looking up at the ceiling, I saw something out of a horror movie. It was my worst nightmare. The ceiling was covered with mosquitoes (ok there were only 4, but it seemed like a million). W.T.F.??? I looked around the room for something I could defend myself with. There were no magazines to slap them with, and I could only wish for one of the big bug smasher guns my Aunty Lilly used to have when I was a kid (it was a spring-loaded gun with a flat, soft plastic end that would smash bugs against the wall when you fired it...but we would shoot it at each other, rather than at bugs, because it was more fun that way). The ceiling was too high for me to smash them with my hand, so I grabbed the only thing that I could throw at them. My pillow. Which was white. As was the ceiling.
I didn't have time to consider the consequences, as I rapidly launched the pillow towards the ceiling (think Angry Birds) and hit one of them. It left a nice black smear on the ceiling. I momentarily did a little cheer in my head. Then the rest of them scattered and were flying all over the room. Crap. I sat down on the bed staring at the ceiling, waiting for one to land again. When it did, I launched the pillow again. This time, the smudge on the pillow was blood red. Yup, my blood. Blood smeared on the ceiling and pillow was gross, but I didn't worry about it...I had a war to win. After killing the other 3, I thought it was over. I checked the window again to make sure it was closed...how else were these guys coming in? It was definitely closed, but upon further inspection, there were 4 or 5 more mosquitoes sitting on the window...on the INSIDE! I swung wildly at them, getting one, but the others scattered. So I went back to the bed, to stare at the ceiling again, waiting to see them land. I was chasing them around the room for the next hour, barely breathing as I tried to listen for the buzz and to wait for them to reveal themselves. My heart was seriously beating fast during this battle, as if I was in some scene from Lord of the Flies. In total, I killed 12 mosquitoes between 4 and 5:30 am. TWELVE. After which I was so jittery and shell-shocked that it took a while to fall asleep again.
When I woke up, I looked around the room, which looked like the aftermath of a zombie war. There were black marks all over the walls and ceiling, mosquito corpses scattered around the room, body parts everywhere, and the pillow case was pretty disgusting (luckily I had two pillows). I feel sorry for the guy who had to clean my room. Mark was happy to not have been there.
And my legs, arms and neck were all itching again. Dammit.
When I said that Mark doesn't say interesting things, of course that was a lie. Mark's family has a very interesting story. As a kid (a LOOOOOOOOONG time ago), he visited Poland many times. We found the house/land where the family used to vacation, but it has become infested by the overgrowth of bushes and trees. After the house burned down several years ago, nobody took care to upkeep it. So, the family stopped visiting. Mark told stories of playing in the fields, visiting the town, flirting with all the Polish girls, and we even went the corner candy shop he used to frequent. I found it interesting that the teenage girl working at the shop had Mark's same eyes........ I wonder if that's just a coincidence..........hmmmmmmmm........?????? We also visited the cemetery where most of his ancestors are buried. It took a while to walk around to find it, but since he remembered the tomb being under a tree, that helped narrow down the search (we looked around all the tress). All the graves were huge and had multiple people living there (I realize that's the wrong word to use, but that's how I want to describe it). Even though his dad survived the war and is buried in Australia, Mark also told about his dad being imprisoned in Auschwitz for being part of the national army (I told you Mark was a kid a LOOOOOOOOONG time ago). His dad didn't really talk about it, as I can imagine it would have been difficult.
Mark's dad has the same picture of himself in front of the tree
Exploring the property
Paying respects at the Poczman tomb
Mark himself is a bit of an inspirational story. He's a lawyer by trade (ok, not that inspirational), but after many years living the corporate life (he was even a PwC partner for some time), living in various cities around the world, he decided to take a break from that, moved to Poland to get in touch with his roots, and has been teaching English in Warsaw for a couple years. It's nice to see someone not get too engulfed in the corporate world, realizing that there are other things in life to enjoy. And to actually do something about it.
On the way back to Warsaw we passed through a couple nice places - Pułtusk, a little town on the river with a nice castle and really long market square (supposedly it's the longest market square in Europe), and Serock, just along a huge lake with nice paths around and lots of people doing water sports. We ran out of bike friendly roads in some parts, so we had to go on the main roads with cars and trucks zooming by. It was great for training because we were going really fast to get off the road as quickly as possible.
Along the lake at Serock
After riding about 230 km over the 3 days, it felt great to get back to Warsaw. Our daily mileage (or kilometerage) was 88, 60, and 85 km. It was great to see Warsaw's surroundings that I hadn't seen before and to take it in more naturally, rather than in a car or train. It was also great to see a bit of Mark's childhood and heritage, and I'm glad he let me join him. It was another successful and very enjoyable trip.
After I wrote this, a friend of mine in the US had just finished a 5,000 km bike ride across the US in 2.5 months. 5 THOUSAND. I didn't even do 500. I didn't even do HALF of 500. So his was almost the same thing as my trip. Or not. Check out his feat here.
